It’s December and we’re starting to look forward to Christmas! The decorations are up and we have lots of festive activities planned starting with the Christmas Bazaar on Wednesday 12th December, when Mary Berry will be our special guest to judge the baking competition. The girls will be going on our traditional visit to the Pantomime later in the term, which is “Aladdin” at the Elgiva Theatre and is kindly sponsored by Happy Days Charity. Apart from the usual Christmas lunch and parties, we also have the annual Rotary party and Christmas disco, with the option of a quieter activity for those who prefer a more relaxed time. I’m sure Christmas at Alfriston will be a time to remember for everyone.

The hens are happily enjoying the extension to the run, and keeping us well supplied with eggs. Two of the chicks have turned out to be cockerels and are now fully grown and crowing. Perhaps we’ll have more chicks in the Spring!

Plans are going ahead to start the pool build in January 2013, and although we know that this will necessarily involve some disruption we are extremely excited at the prospect of having our own indoor pool on site.

Please could you check that we have a current emergency contact number for you as we have had several unobtainable numbers recently and it’s vital that we can contact you should an emergency arise.

I hope to see many of you in school during the run up to Christmas. Please join us at the Christmas Bazaar next week and at our Carol Service on the last day of term. I wish you all a very happy Christmas time.

At this time of year when the nights draw in so quickly, the Student Council wanted to stress how important it is for us all to make sure that we can be seen by motorists in the fading light and after dark. If you are a driver you will know how difficult it is to spot the pedestrian who nips across the road in front of you dressed in dark colours from head to foot. Therefore the Student Council once again chose to encourage pupils at Alfriston to wear something bright on their coats or bags. To this end, during Road Safety Week last month, every pupil was given a hi-viz reflective sticker to wear.

The main campaign for Road Safety Week this year was to cut speed in local communities where children, pets and families are travelling between home, school and shops. The Go20 campaign reports that 20mph is much safer for people walking and cycling because drivers have far more chance to react in an emergency and avoid hitting someone: your stopping distance at 30 is nearly double than at 20. Where 20 limits have replaced 30 limits, there have been reductions in casualties.

Lower urban speeds are particularly good for kids. Research shows children struggle to judge speed when vehicles are doing more than 20mph, yet many drivers expect them to simply keep out of the way.

Every day seven children and 19 adults and are killed or seriously injured while walking or cycling on UK roads. Every death and injury is devastating for families involved, and entirely preventable.